Sherri

Hey, I'd be glad to help! I'm looking for a partner for Leavenworth this Tuesday, moderate trad. I'll be out climbing here all day tomorrow(Monday) but will check PM's in the evening.

Tuesday is still open--need partner that day for either Leavenworth or Index. Anyone? All set for Sun/Mon. Thanks.

Would like to meet up at Index on Sunday, pull on some 5.9's and low 5.10's(which I can lead) or follow harder. Thinking of continuing on to Leavenworth for Monday and/or Tuesday for more of the same. (Or back to Index Tuesday, wherever folks are available to climb.) I have rope, rack, and own transport. Shoot a PM my way if you're stoked to get out and enjoy some early autumn goodness.

No kidding. While on lead, I was grazed by an empty can of Frito-Lay bean dip there last year.

If you wanted to do Sun and Mon at Leavenworth, that would also work if Sunday was a cragging day, as I'd be arriving from Sequim that morning. All days are still open if anyone is interested. Looks like primo weather.

Dan, My plan is to climb at Index Sunday, head to Leavenworth Sunday night, climb Leavenworth Monday and possibly Tuesday and Wed morning(or back to Index Tuesday, depending on where partners are available.) If the Sunday/Monday portion sounds good for you(ie-Index Sunday, SNW Mon),I can look for others partners to round out the rest of the trip. Let me know.

Any other hippies out there with weekdays off? (and possibly Index on Sunday 9/13) Looking to get on some moderate trad--Castle Rock, Pearly Gates, that sort of thing. I'll be there with rope and a hefty rack. Lead 5.9's, maybe some .10's. Quit yer job and PM me.

There's a possibility I'll be looking for an Index partner for Sunday. I can shoot you a PM once I know.

I dropped my almost-new yellow linkcam off the top pitch of "Rock On" in Squamish last week. It had been given to me as a special birthday present last year, so I was sad about having been so careless with it(and dreading telling my S/O of its fate). On the rap down from the climb, I spotted it near the 2nd rap station, delicately dangling from a tree banch like a Christmas ornament. A happy ending.

Nice work, Blake. Mine doesn't quite fit in with the alpine stuff, but I've got a pile of topos of recently-developed crags around the Icicle(Memorial Buttress, Bridge Creek Crags, O-zone, etc) that were given to me by an anonmyous source last year. Been wondering how to disseminate the info without offending whoever originally made them up(they look professional in quality but show no copyright info). If I get to Rope Up, maybe I should "accidentally" leave a few copies of them lying around?

There's a nice list of topropes around WA here: Climbwashington.com Here's the L'worth excerpt from that webpage. Might be somethere there to get you started: "Leavenworth There are many excellent toprope problems in the Leavenworth area, especially on the many boulders and short walls of Icicle Creek Canyon, the toproping capital of Washington. Here are some of the favorites. Dish Crack (5.10c) * A thin crack on a convex wall on the buttress just up from Mountaineers' Buttress. Scramble up ledges to set up a rope; bring some gear and a long sling. The Prow (5.11b) ** The steep prow on the left side of Bolt Rock. There are some slabby toprope problems on the road face. Squealer, aka East of Java (5.12b) * A super thin, overhanging finger crack with a crux mantel, just above the Snow Creek trail parking lot. Short but severe. La Cucaracha (5.10d) ** The thin crack line on the right side of Madsen's Buttress. A lead route, but usually toproped. Bring a sling and a few cams to set up a toprope. Williams' Twelve (5.12a) ** A diagonal seam/flake on the short wall just above the road past Snow Creek trailhead. One hard, sequential move. Deb's Crack (5.10d) ** The left-leaning, overhanging finger and hand crack splitting the boulder just up and left from Williams' Twelve. A pump. Zig-Zag (5.11a/b) ** A zig-zagging flake and face problem left of Deb's Crack. Bruce's Boulder Face (5.11b) *** The steep slab facing the creek. There are many good, sometimes contrived slab and crack toprope problems on Bruce's Boulder, from 5.2 to 5.12. This area is often very crowded. Barney's Rubble Slab (5.7) *** The friction slab on the right side of the Barney's Rubble formation. A 5.10a variation climbs the blanker slab on the left. There are many good topropes on Barney’s Rubble, from 5.4 to 5.12. This area is often very crowded. A Slice of Pie (5.11b) * A short face problem hidden behind the big flake right of the slab problem on Barney's Rubble. You need a couple of chocks to set up a rope. Z-Crack (5.10c/d) *** A toprope may be set up on this route and Meat Grinder by scrambling up the chimney on the right. A great route for laps. Meat Grinder, aka Alcove Crack (5.9+) *** The wide cracks right of Z-Crack, also frequently toproped. Dogleg Crack (5.8) *** The crack to the right of Meat Grinder You can hike all the way around, or climb a Class 4-5 chimney up from the top of Z-Crack to set up a rope on this crack. A 5.10a face variation on the right is also popular. Rat Creek Boulder Arch (5.10c) ** The arching flake on the steep face of Rat Creek Boulder (referred to as Hook Creek Boulder in Kramar's guide). There are several other good topropes on Rat Creek Boulder, from 5.8 to 5.11. Rat Creek Boulder Face (5.13?) This is the super thin face just left of the arch. Somebody told me he climbed this back in 1980 or so. It's possible. Try it and see what you think. Atlas Shrugged (5.11b/c) * An overhanging seam on the side of the real Rat Creek Boulder. Getting there is a bit tricky these days, due to access issues. Bring some gear to set an anchor. Baby's On Fire (5.13a) * A super thin overhanging seam to the left of Atlas Shrugged. Classic Crack (5.8+) ** The very popular jam crack just up the road from Eightmile Campground. Class 4 ledge scrambling to the anchors. Twin Cracks (5.8) ** The cracks just left of Classic Crack. A 5.9+ start via the offwidth is interesting. Doin' Dishes (5.11c/d) * A thin face problem just right of Classic Crack. Often dirty. Deception Crack (5.9) * The thin, angling crack on the right side of Classic Crack Buttress. Very shallow, with slippery rock. There are a couple of good 5.10 topropes to the right of Deception Crack. Carnival Crack (5.10d) ** The big off-width across the road from Classic Crack Buttress. Hardly anybody ever leads it. Trapeze (5.12a) ** The shallow cracks just left of Carnival Crack. Little Red Corvette (5.11d) * A thin crack and dike on the creekside buttress across from Bridge Creek Campground. In late summer, when the creek is very low, you can rappel in to a boulder to start the route. If you fail, you have to batman or jumar up the rope. Otherwise, the only escape is desperate wading across submerged boulders. Every Inch is Hard (5.12a) * This is the overhanging thin crack on the granite buttress overhanging US Highway 2 just around the first curve west of Leavenworth. The crack almost literally overhangs the highway. It is not often climbed, for good reason. "

Thanks for that suggestion and beta, Crackaddict. We felt like the bolt ladder detracted from the route's character; it was the only part we didn't really like. I'll check out that 5.8 variation next time. I pondered that big stemming move as I was waiting at the belay...looks like it favors folks with long arms/legs, but if it's a way to avoid the bolt ladder I'm all for it.

Exactly. If I were BB, I would less concerned about shouting commands etc or taking AA off belay as it is a moot point once the rope is pulled up to you. You could begin breaking down the anchor if you're worried about wasting time waiting(was it getting dark or was a storm approaching that made those 5 minutes critical?) and keep yourself anchored to one bomber piece until AA starts moving or tugging on you. Either way, the only thing you can do once the rope is tight on you is be prepared to move. Communication didn't necessarily "break down." Once commands are indecipherable or inaudible, the movement of the rope--along with experience and/or good judgment-- is your cue. Sometimes safety depends on the ability to stay flexible to an array of variables out there in the real world. It's not a climbing gym where commands will always follow a cue card. Good luck and good on ya for asking how to make the best of an unexpected situation!

No worries, Mikester. A google search containing both "trigger points" and "morton's neuroma" will give you plenty to start with. Have a great trip!

Morton's sucks. Sorry to hear about your diagnosis Mikester, but at least you know what you're dealing with now. I developed this 20 years ago after hiking up Half Dome(I was a runner at the time, not a climber). Anyway, tried a couple bouts of cortisone only to have the cursed thing come back with a vengeance. Then tried to have it fixed surgically, which probably would have worked had the procedure been done properly(it was done overseas). Had to have surgery again(to remove scar tissue around the nerves) a year later and spent a lot of money on orthotics to keep things at bay. After all this, the neuroma CAME BACK. Finally, I hit just the right combo of new orthotics(from a local guy who also supplied them for the Seattle Supersonics) and physical therapy(daily self-massage of trigger points in the calves). I've enjoyed a neuroma-free life for the past five years--I can run, climb, and skip barefoot without any pain. It's important to keep in mind that neuroma's can seriously derail an active lifestyle, but it's not necessarily a life sentence. Be thorough and diligent in your pursuit of a cure or treatment. Good luck!

Exactly. A couple of my partners refer to it as "milking."

I love that determination! You rock, Drew!

yep...no doubt! By the way, Drew wound up linking that rig at index with no falls later in the day yesterday... That's awesome, RumR! :tup: (I think I was falling enough for all of us yesterday, and that was on climbs about 10 grades easier than Drew's!)

Thanks, Joseph--that week was a cooker. We found that doing the multi's in the morning was a good way to beat the heat. More air moving around up high than down in the Bluffs. They loved Squamish--I'm sure they'll be back.

Yeah...I get around. My partner last weekend had driven up that morning; we figured the route was a good one to warm up on(and a chance for me to take pics of the bottom pitches that I had missed the first time around). You guys looked great on Rutabaga. Thanks for making the cc.com connection here. Love meeting folks face-to-face.

Trip: Squamish, BC - Europa Date: 7/25/2009 Trip Report: Looking for something in the shade to escape July's sultry heatwave, we decided to check out the "new" Europa route and see for ourselves if it was worth the $14,000 spent to clean it last year. The first pitch is a 5.7 blocky corner system with some exciting layback moves. The second(crux)pitch, 5.8, starts with a short but pumpy handcrack/lieback. Fun! Looking down at P2 from the comfy tree belay: Another 5.7 pitch begins with pulling around some overhanging blocks which eventually get you to a couple finger crack/face moves. No picture of this section as I was enjoying the lovely view from the belay: The start of the fourth pitch(5.5) is a surreal tree ladder that looks like a scene prop from a Hobbit movie. My lucky partner got this lead: This is followed by a dirty chimney/gully that brings you to the base of P5, which is a 5.6 45m pitch of similar character(except without the fun Hobbit tree ) Things change dramatically at the base of P6, 5.7, which kicks off with a 9-bolt ladder. My partner led the ladder, with some considerable effort, and set up belay at the top of it so that I could top-rope the enticing looking line to the left of the bolt ladder. We wondered if this went at a reasonable grade.(Answer: No!) Some sketchy, strenuous face moves past one bolt delivered me at the bottom of an shallow handcrack in an awkward corner. I struggled and sweated my way up it, wishing I had tried the bolt ladder after all. Found out later that this line was part of a route called The Gauntlet, 10d, I think. After that off-route grovel, I was glad to finish our 5.7 pitch on the nice steep hand/fist crack section which landed us in the base of a neat chimney. Pitch 7, 5.6, climbs this chimney, which you can do in various ways if chimneys are not your game. Go around the outside of it on the left, stem up the middle, or go deep inside and do a combo of squeeze chimney/face moves. There were three of us in our party and we each did it differently. A nice bit of scenery as you exit the chimney: My partner enjoying the "alpine" ambience of the belay station at the top: Me, dirty, happy, and bit bedraggled after hauling the gear and pack up the last chimney: We gave the route three :tup: . It took the better part of a day(we had shade until about 3pm) and proved more interesting and challenging than we initially expected, given the moderate/easy ratings of the pitches. (I wouldn't send newbies up this, as there is still plenty of loose stuff waiting to work its way out and gear placements are not trivial.) While it doesn't hold a candle to the classics, Europa was fun in it's own way, giving us something of a different, faux-alpine, character to do in lieu of joining the cattle lines snaking up the routes of comparable grades on the Apron. Thanks to those who put the vision, hard work and money into it. Gear Notes: 60m rope.Standard rack, though doubles of #2 come in handy for the 5.8 crux crack and a couple extra slings might be helpful for the bolt ladder, especially if you keep going to finish the pitch. Mosquito repellant for the start is a good idea. Option for rappelling the route w/one 60m from 1st rap station atop P4. Approach Notes: Europa is in the Dihedrals. Park in the climbers lot on the left side of the roundabout before the Chief Campground. Hike through the boulders, up and leftward along the base toward Millenium Falcon.(15mins?) The start is to the left of Arrowroot. The descent trail is well marked with reflectors and eventually joins the main Chief trail. Europa topo: http://www.ubc-voc.com/wiki/Europa

So how is Europa? Is it getting enough traffic to be clean, enjoyable? We had a great time on Europa. It is still a long way from being "clean," but the dirt and loose rock kept us on our toes and added to the alpine/adventure feel of the whole thing. I've got a couple pics from it that I'll post up sometime.

[img:center]http://lh6.ggpht.com/_XNueStDVX8c/SoHbS5xFsDI/AAAAAAAAFTk/NKz6qPoh7UA/s512/IMG_0195.JPG[/img] We were up there that same week(I recognize the long-weekend traffic in the background) and did "Europa", next door to MF. What a hot and muggy week. Sucked the energy and made the rock feel almost slimy...you guys did AWESOME to bag such a classic climb in such steamy conditions. Great TR!

True dat. View changes quite a bit depending on where your lounge chair is parked.